Post 74 prepares for next step

Before Albemarle Post 74 took the field in the first inning of the District 12 championship game, the Albemarle Post 74 coaches told their players, “We’ll see you guys on Tuesday.”

It made sense. There was only one thing this team had on its mind.

Coming into the summer, Mike Maynard set one very straight forward goal his players — make the American Legion state tournament — and anything short of that would spell failure.

After slugging past Fluvanna Post 2003 on Wednesday night, Maynard and company can breath easy for a couple of days before they head to Glen Allen on Tuesday.

“Our only goal was to get to the state tournament,” Maynard said. “So we’re very proud of reaching that accomplishment.”

The time off should give the Albemarle pitching staff some much-needed rest. Pitchers Sam Riedesel, Jason White, Ty Molinaro, Kevin White, and Rashad Talley all saw their share of innings in the district tournament.

“Getting our arms some rest is big for us,” Maynard said. “Sam’s been throwing a lot, so it’ll be good for him to have some time off.”

While giving some tired arms a chance to refuel can only help, considering some of the mistakes made in the past two games, it wouldn’t be hard to argue that Albemarle’s biggest obstacle heading into the state tournament is simply staying focused.

“We know that we’re capable of winning every game we play,” Molinaro said. “It’s a matter of going out there and playing hard.”

Leadoff hitter Vince Coles felt as though Wednesday’s big day at the plate gave the team some reassurance about what the team is able of achieving.

“This game should give us a lot of confidence,” Coles said. “We know we’re a good team.”

Right now, Albemarle’s opponent remains a mystery, but the team will come out of District 9 in the Roanoke area, and Maynard was toying with the idea of heading down to the tournament to see what team his squad might face come Tuesday — if he can find a way to squeeze it into his schedule, that is.

The Albemarle skipper has spent the last few days commuting between Orange (the host of the District 12 tournament) and Randolph-Macon College, were he and a number of Jefferson District basketball coaches and players have been participating in a summer camp.

Albemarle’s first game in the state tournament will be on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at RF&P Park.